Ed Sheeran says ‘PLAY’ is one of his ‘last hurrahs’ of making ‘fun pop music’

Ed Sheeran has said that he wanted his new album, PLAY, to be about making fun pop music because his last two albums were, as he puts it, “really heavy.” But another reason he wanted to make that kind of record is because he says he feels the clock is ticking on his ability to get away with doing it.

Speaking to Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, Ed says after the depressing nature of his albums Subtract and Autumn Variations, he wanted to return to being the “happy, smiley guy” that he is. “I wanted to fall in love with making pop music again,” he explains. But at the same time, he knows that he can’t do this forever — or at least, he doesn’t think he can do this forever.

“I’m 34, I’ve got two kids. There is a shelf life for me as a pop star, and this is probably this, and maybe one or two more records is probably all I’m going to get,” he says.

“There’s a point where you have to transition and do something else,” he continues. “I think I’ve still got it in me and I love making it, but I see this as, like, just me having a couple of last hurrahs of making really fun pop music.”

However, that doesn’t mean Ed’s going to stop making music. He’s already announced his intention to record at least four more albums after PLAY, named PAUSE, REWIND, FAST-FORWARD and STOP.